Are the Texans a smart organization; money and sports have to mix

Since NFL teams will be forbidden from talking to players during the lockout (should there be one), I had a crazy idea that the Texans defensive players should hire a former assistant on Wade Phillips’ staff to walk them through the intricacies of the new defense.

I’m not talking about full-scale workouts, which would be dangerous in that if a player were injured in such a practice, teams could classify it as a non-football related injury and not pay him as it would were he hurt in minicamp or OTAs.

In fact, I had the crazy idea that a smart organization that values winning might encourage its players to do so, and might even unofficially let it be known that it wouldn’t try to be cheap and hold such an injury against a guy were he to suffer one.

It was a crazy idea that only a smart organization going through a significant offseason change like hiring a new defensive coordinator and switching from the 4-3 to the 3-4 might consider. A smart organization willing to risk the substantial fine that it might incur (it is only money, right?) should a player file a complaint with the NFLPA (why would a player do such a thing if he wants to win?) if he felt the team pressured players to do this (as opposed to rewarding them for doing so).

It was just a crazy idea.

If you’re like me, you hate it when sports and money mix.

Money messes up the games; messes with the minds of those who watch the games.

But money is the reason most owners own, and the reason some players play and some coaches coach.

Unless they work for a team, money isn’t the reason fans are fans, save for the few who claim they have elected to become fans of minor sports because the pricing is cheaper. I don’t doubt their truthfulness, but their numbers are few.

Anyway, just so I won’t completely ignore the money talk that is so dominating the NFL these days, here are a couple of interesting reads on the labor situation.

From Trotter: “One NFL source said the owners have been “fully engaged and fully responsive for almost two years” and have made “numerous proposals and counterproposals.” The players believe otherwise, and their willingness to go toe-to-toe with the owners stems largely from their belief that they are better educated about the issues than at any point in the past three decades.”

From Simmons: “This isn’t about common sense, dignity, relationships, long-term plans, or even preserving the fragile relationship between a customer and a provider. It’s about generating more money …”

The Astros are shooting for an $80-million budget for 2011.

Philadelphia will pay around $80 million to its four starting pitchers, its closer and Ryan Howard.